High school baseball capsules

Tuesday

Mar 26, 2013 at 7:27 PMMar 26, 2013 at 7:30 PM

Previews of Stark County, Galva-Williamsfield, Ridgewood and Bureau Valley baseball

Mike Landis

Stark County RebelsCoach — Terry Kochis2012 — 17-19 overall and 8-10 in the Lincoln Trail Conference. Lost to Ridgewood in the opening round of the Class 1A Orion Regional.Returning letterwinners — Ryne Daum, Derek Gray, Sam Klooster, Justin Kohler, Cole VanWassenhove and Kyle Wagenbach.Top Newcomers — Logan Hollis and Michael Schott.Rebels at a Glance — “Pitching should be a strength this year. Klooster, VanWassenhove, Wagenbach, Schott, Hollis and Daum should be a solid staff that can throw strikes and keep the team in the game,” said Stark County assistant coach Scott Paxson.Behind the Plate — The Rebels have had a Paxson, Tyler or Bryce, catching for eight of the past nine seasons. Ryne Daum takes over that role this season. He caught for the Rebels last season when Bryce Paxson was on the mound.Kohler Anchors Defense — Justin Kohler, a four-year senior starter at shortstop, leads the Stark County defense. The Rebels graduated their starting outfield from 2012.Offense — “We have some experience in spots that hopefully will get us going and the new young players will not take long to get comfortable at the varsity level,” said Coach Paxson.

Galva-Williamsfield WildcatsCoach — Charlie Sams2012 — 17-10 overall, 9-7 in the Lincoln Trail Conference and champions of the ICAC with a record of 4-1. Lost to Orion in the semifinals of the Class 1A Orion Regional.Returning letterwinners — Seniors: James Doubet (P/OF) and Logan Smith (C); Juniors: Tyler Doubet (P/1B), James Sams (SS), Parker Wight (Utility), David Jeffries (OF) and Donovan Benson (OF/DH); Sophomores: Collin Landis (1B/3B/P) and Easton Beard (P).Top Newcomers — Junior Austin Gladfelter (Utility), and freshmen Garrett Wight (P/Utility) and Billy Comer (Utility)Pitching Brothers — The Wildcats boast an impressive one-two punch on the mound with brothers James Doubet and Tyler Doubet. Both hurlers earned all-conference honors in the LTC and ICAC last season.So Long Seniors — The Wildcats lost seven starting seniors from last year’s team.

Ridgewood SpartansCoach — Seth Spivey2012 — 23-11 overall and 13-5 in the Lincoln Trail Conference, good for a third-place finish. Lost in the semifinals of the Class 1A Orion Regional to Annawan-Wethersfield.Returning letterwinners — Seniors: Dusty Werner (P/OF), Nick Ragan (P/IF/OF), Jacob Cole (P/OF) and Jarod Litton (IF); Juniors: Noah Shannon (P/IF), Andrew Steider (P/IF) and Blayne Street (C); Sophomores: Ridge Greenman (P/IF) and Nate Humphrey (P/OF).Top newcomers — Junior Cole Colburn (IF/OF) and sophomore Joey Lambin (P/IF).Spartans at a Glance — “We think we have good pitching depth and we should be fairly solid defensively,” said Spivey. “The key for us will be to have consistent, quality at- bats 1-9 in our lineup. If we can do that we feel that we are tough to beat.”

Bureau Valley StormCoach — John Matlick2012 — 7-25 overall.Returning starters — The Storm welcome back plenty of experience on the infield with Bryce Hansen at third base, Trevin Kennedy at catcher, Cody Mattingly at first base and McKinley Kruger at shortstop.Hansen is BV’s top returning hitter, batting .323 with 11 doubles last season.On the Mound — Kennedy and Kruger will lead the BV pitching staff, along with Keaton Wagenknecht and Kyle Rokey. Rokey had two wins with a 1.91 earned run average last season, while Wagenknecht recorded 57 strikeouts in the 53 innings.